Hitman Contracts - Australian Review

Slap-heads, 8-balls, rude nuts, chrome domes, baldies – funny looking lot those ‘follicley-challenged’ members of our society, but you would need balls of steel to dare throw names like that the way of Agent 47. Why? He would just as easy kill you as fart in your general direction. But in his third action/strategy adventure, does 47 still have what it takes to fibre-wire postmen and lethally-inject kitchen staff? Well yes, but he’s showing his age. Although the multi-layered level design and open-ended progression still tender the desired excitement – there is a startling lack of polish, giving HC the vibe of a delayed expansion pack rather than a gaming evolution.

Perhaps that’s an unfair viewpoint, Hitman 2 was brilliant after all, but times have changed and Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow has raised the bar. To their credit, IO Interactive has definitely taken the narrative to a whole new level. When the game begins 47 is left bleeding and unconscious on the floor of a cheap motel. Your attacker knew you, was waiting for you even, but how and why? Your life begins flashing before your eyes, depicting some of the contracts you have served and slowly feeding you clues as to how you ended up in such a predicament. This is a vastly different approach for the series, surreal, yet theatrical and layered thick with a dank, cold atmosphere. Immediately engaging, it gives gamers a greater understanding of 47’s character and reveals the demons that drove him to become the globe’s most feared assassin/horticulturist.

It also opens the door for more adult affair. A game about a tuxedo clad bald guy that smokes innocent people just for their clothes was never going to be family entertainment, but there is a real push to give HC an edgy maturity. In the first mission, for example, you find yourself in an asylum littered with dead bodies, blood splattered across every wall while the mentally brutalized wandering aimlessly around. In the second you find yourself in the middle of an ‘Eyes Wide Shut’-styled rave taking place in a slaughterhouse, where masked men receive dry-roots from scantily clothed women. Naturally, the violence has also escalated, especially through the rag-doll physics, gore, score and lighting. All mood and noir, it feeds you an atmosphere where death watches from every suspicious eye. When you stumble upon a psycho in his underpants dancing in a pool of blood underneath the shredded remains of a small girl, the impression is spine-tingling.

Unlike its predecessor, however, this atmosphere hangs on very loose threads. The threat of being caught or your mission uncovered doesn’t hold the same searing suspense found in Hitman 2. In part, this is due to the relaxed restrictions on ‘Rambo’-styled gameplay, but the blasé AI can also be thanked. It doesn’t seem as concerned with suspicious actions as it was previously, or, will be overly suspicious when nothing is going down. The balance between level design and AI is askew and while it doesn’t hinder the experience for newcomers, it will cheese series veterans right off. As for the core gameplay, it remains the same, requiring you to sneak up on the innocent, knock them unconscious and steal their identity. Once you have breached a building, other gadgets such as lock-picks and night-vision allow you to traverse its layout unnoticed and complete your mission.

There are 12 missions, which is far below the 20 found in Hitman 2, but they are bigger on average. Being an international assassin, Agent 47 ends up fulfilling contracts all across the globe (including Britain, Siberia and China), giving you plenty of level variety and giving him good frequent flyer mileage on the sly. Convoluted and open-ended, repeat gaming will almost always uncover new methods of progression, alternate routes and little secrets. The levels look fantastic too, especially those that take place outdoors. Despite this variety, however, the gameplay often trips itself up, leaving you waiting for an AI to complete a task or providing cut-scenes that refer to objectives you’ve already completed. Plus, some missions are thinly veiled retreads of those found in Hitman 2. This robs HC of an identity of its own and hints at its limited aspirations.

This is made all the more apparent via the graphics and SFX. Some of the collision detection and animations are abysmal. For example, after picking up a meat cleaver, 47’s cover was blown and, naturally, he proceeded to carve up the patrons. Instead of losing limbs or crumbling into a pool of blood, they simply toppled like bored pins at a bowling alley. Also, seeing your arm and gun pass through solid concrete – a common occurrence here – does little for the atmosphere. These evils are countered by some good (such as the supremely orchestrated cut-scenes, bullet-time death sequences and excellent weather effects), but the overall package is affected. The SFX are also poor, hit metal against stone for example, and you will not hear the crisp glint of steel on concrete, just nothing. Add frequent dialogue lapses and HC shows a bewildering lack of refinement, cheapening the entire affair.

HC is a solid title that provides the same smart level design and open-ended gameplay for which the series is famous. But in order to compete with the likes of Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3, HC needed to build on these foundations, rather than play on them. Without multiplayer options, graphical refinement or level originality, it simply feels dated.

Verdict:

For many, HC will be a disappointment, but its inventive storyline and intricate level design will entertain lounge-room assassins.

Pros: Excellent cut-scenes, cracking atmosphere, open-ended gameplay.

Cons: Unpolished graphics and SFX, doesn’t evolve beyond its predecessor.

8.0/10

EXTRA! EXTRA! Killing When You're Winning

The aim of HC is to finish each stage having disposed of only your targets. Working out how to do this is a time-consuming, often frustrating but always rewarding experience. For the attention deficient, the gung-ho approach will work and is more accepted here than in HC’s predecessor, plus, if your cover is blown, you can always kill the eye witnesses, change clothes and wander off like you’re innocent. The controls, map and interface remain intact, although the camera appears smoother. There is a greater range of weaponry too, mostly in the form of hand-to-hand combat with environmental props such as pool cues, shovels, fire pokers and even pillows coming into play – not to mention an expanded smorgasbord of armaments.